Apparatus for extracting moisture from air for blast-furnaces and converters.



J. GAYLBY. APPARATUS mi BKTRAGTING' MIST-URE PROM AIR fon BLAST mammaAm: e.1\.:;r:m;w1;-

APPLIUATION rxmin sEPT.1awoa.

Patented Mm'. 255, m0

3 SHEETS 'LI WITNESSES 7 J. GAYLBY. .mmcfrmu MOISTURE fmm Am rox BLASTmamans AN'D Communs.

AYPLIGAT'ION FILED SEPT. 14, 1903( `Patented Mar. 29, 1910.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTOR 5705er@ M 1274 WITNESSES J5@ M J. GAYLEY. APPARATUS ronBxTnAcTm MOISTURE man AIR ron BLAST FURNAGES ANU ooNvBRTBRs.

4APILIUATION FILED SBPT.14, 1903.

Patented Mar. 29, 1910.

3 BHEBTS--SHEBT 3.

INVENTDR www wa wTNESSES QW #In JINI/trl,

UNITED sT APPARA'rUs Fon ATEsfrATENTf-onnion.

temas GArLEY, or NEW' Younger. Y.

EXTRACTING rSpeciilcetigon o! Letters Patent.

MOISTURE vrnoiu 'AIB Fon liconvenuti:las.' i l q nnnsfrrunnmns PatentedMar. 29,1910;

:Application led September 14, 1903. Serial No. 173,107.:

i To whom 'it may concern:

' bustion.

pounds of vraw materials, 30

.and State of New Koperations de moisture in the Be it known that I,JAMES GAYLEY, 'of

New York city, inthe countyof New York new and useful Ap York, haveinvented a aratus for Eitractin Moisture Vfrom Air or Blast-Furnaces anConverters,

clear, and exact description,

had to, the accompanying ing,

of which the following is a full,

reference bedrawings,

forming part of this speclfication, in which- Figure 1 shows inelevations 'blast furnace and converter arranged in accordance with myinvention.

refrigeratin a in lm )llgitudignalp view .of the chamber, showing theair-,distributing pipe leading from the blower.

Fig.A 2 shows the airpfaratus 1n elevation, partly section. f bottom ofthe refrigerating Fig. 3 is a plan The successful conduct of allmetallurgical uniformity o the process. In operating blast ends to agreat extent on the 'the various materialslused in furnaces and steelconverters, one of `the most Vdisiturhinginfluences is the varyingamount of these rocessesa sume for. the purp unestone, to produce a tonof pi about 12,000 pounds of lair, therefore of.;l reat importance thatthe'an' should be ren content of `moisture element influencing' iron andi steelfmanufacturing. RaamV 'terial has gained inY humanskill canmake'y to-day, variation sition of 'raw material is within cent., andthe temperature and y be controlled within alike as uniform as thepractice of air can but the humidity of ingfrom 20 to 200 been beyondcontrol.

lurgical c perations is injurious causent 1s decomposed 1n 1 a paratuswhere thus absorbs heat,

atmosphere, since-fin both large amount of air is conl ose of oxidationor com- It requlres approximately 7,500

viz: fuel, o re andy iron, and t becomes ered'uniform 1n respect to itswhich is the variable cost of operations.

uniformity, and

the atmos per cent-LAS 4 Its prese liheatfr y ut theiilactuationsf-ln`Sylvania, from the months ofQA vthe process is rendered Vpreciated; T.us,

lThje'sefacts make' it M pe Q bast-furnace manager to securelumformlty amoigture inthe atmosphere produce;lirregu laritv 1in' the pig metal wi lvalueof the product is thus i the quantity of moisture carried Vthefail.69

produce corresponding irregularitieeun the conduct of the recess 4andanthequality of 'the product. hus, in'the State fof, fencing tember,inclusive, the air conteurs l u sa ftyfper cent. more moisture a e orthe other months of th, iyg'enifr, ,angl o ten for short periods oftimef't efgretifqf difference is much greater,v 'Whe in@ U eti? nesidered hat when a blast furna 60 minute one thousand cubicfeet oftaining one grain of moisture` per,"` l foot', one gallon `ofwaterenterseYey-houm and that the smallerblast furnaces-useper minuteeight thousand cubicfeet of vail' 66 and thelarger ones thirty tffty"thousan t cubic feet, eachjcubicfootcontaining from` able. in consumosthe enum-posities @uns aqueous" vapor is fortylgal'onsare deliveredhour;-

largef quantity` of.'

'y the latnios here alone will' be readily ap#` in the summernontl13,bef-V causebf` ltime greater hr airQ-,twqhundred an averagearerequired 4to produgelnfftonf iron than in the fwintermonthsif verydifficult; :forithe:

roduct.` v."-Vari tionejn the- 'content ofw operation of Vthejfurnace,and atie ,t the' quantity of fuel necessary tol vvu.s .d.,'and. thesevarying conditionsin turn th reference to te nonme- .p `dake irregular4thechenncal com iosition .of-95* tallc constituents, carbon, s1ioon 9m`e y accomplished at the c1480 --Benseof heat', :thevarymg conditionscaused :ind the uncertainty of the result which will be :ittjiitied in:my given toppingy oi" the furlnn'e ist u ninlrs oli serionsineonvenieine.

ln the operation of the Bessemer' converter like diflicnltics nrit-Je'from the moieture of the utinosphere und its tzlriotione. .lts presencein large quantity causes n cooling of the nietul both which interfere@4with the uniform conduct of the process` und often. produces wastefulchilled heats, In order to obi-'inte these bad effects, it is nec--ossery to chulrge into the coiiverter u pig' iron continuing nsuliieiently large content olf silicon to raise the temperature of theblow and thus neutralize 'the chilling elli'ect of the moisture.Additional fuel in the' blast furnnce iS required to produce ,such high.silicon metal` and .fit :ill times e surplus of heat Inust be carriedto maintain, even to u limited extent. the equilibrium of the furnace.All these sonrcefs of irregularity.' and cxpcnse in metallurgicaloperations are elimif -d by use ot my invention, by means oi." which lfurnish for the furnace or converter :in nir-blast. ilirtuft'icnlly freefrom atinosplnric moisture. und thnt which renmins con be maintained ntn practically uniform pere-,truttige ,lirorder to fully understand theapplication ot this device. I would explain thnt it f1 tended to beused. with blast furnaces for the sinelting' of ores und with steelconverter? for the corn-'ersion of iron into steel. In ull of these thenir is used solely for the purpose of oxidation or combustion. Blast.furnaces :are non' constructed with a height of @ne hundred feet und udiameter vot' twenty-three feet. These are kept full continuously with'fr mixture of fuel, ore and linx, which offers groot resistance to thepenetration of the bloot and not uneonnnonly requires an uir-blnsthaving u pressure of fifteen to twenty pounds per square inch.

llikmrise in the f -oi'nerter t-he air is forced 'through :i birth ofmetal vvhichfrequently weighs fifteen tous, and requires u blast`pressure of twenty-live pounds per square inch topenetrte it. Theebndensation of moisture from air in rapid 'znotion and consumed inlarge volumes, ypresents difficulties not found in tiny other processes,and any :attempt to remove the moisture from the furnace-blast by theuse of chemical agents buying alinity for water must necessarily proveimprnctieeble.

In 'the practice of my invention I remove the moisture from the air andrender it dry`r or so dry ut leest that the percentaqe of moisturecontained in the air is small and practically uniform, by subjecting itto nrtiicial refrigeration, whereby the moisture 1S condensed as Wateror snow and may be collected and Withdrawn` the air beingfed to thefurnace or-{converter under compression7 ing-engine E. -If :for anyreason the lilover i l i l i i l l l i l I i l i l l l l l i l l i i Iund being;` maintained constantly under conipression from the time itlenves the blowingenp'ine until it reaches the furnace.

My apparatus which forms the Subject ot this Lpecillcution possessesmany udvnntngoons; qualities for treating nir traveling with u highvelocity.

lleterrinonow tio the drawings, 2 is the pipe through which the nirpasses from the refrigerator or rlryinLlr chamber f-l to theblowing-engine l. ond -l is the pipe conduct-- ingr the :'lir ondercompression 'from the blowing-engine to the furnace or comforter.

C represents :i converter for the manufacture of steel, and F representsn blast-furnace, into the twyers of which the dried nir js deliveredfrom the pipe 4. drown by a blower or fan P through the inlet 5 und fedinto the reifrigg'erating chamber through the distributing conduits G,or the blower B may be disensed with` and u blower B used inst/eav to`:ispirate the uil' through the refrigrerating,r chamber. B and ll showtwo locations for the fan, us it muy be preferred either to feed or:ispirate the nir through the rcfriuemting chamber, but it is not:necessary to use both. When the l'un B is used. the nir enters the pipeand ie forced' by the fanvwhich is )ower-driven through thedrivingxvhecl 7 driven by u niotor 1Q, A:ind preferably into thedistributing' .pipes G which lead into the refrigerating chamber 3, andopen :it various points therein with vulve-cmitrolled openings 6', so1that the air shell be evenlydistributed under the refrigernting pipes8, und will come into contact with these pipes which are cooled to o.low tern peruture by anhydrous ammonio or other refrigerant. The coolingagent is preferably anhydrous ammonio, furnished by :in ice-makingmachine of suitable design. On evaporation, it produces n very lou"temperature, though other refrigerante 'producing intense coldf such ascarbonio nnhydrid, muy be employed. The moisture in the nir is depositedon these pipes preferably in the forni of snow, und the dried nir passesinto u, receiving chamber 9, and thence through the pipe 2 to `theblowingengine E, from where it is delivered to the furnace or converter.If the blower or fan B is used, the fen B is dispensed with and the airis aspirated from the inlet-pipe 5 tothe blower B and then fed into theblowshould become inoperative, the air would pass through the hood orair-inlet 14 and opening of the fan-room and through the open floor 15of, the fan-room into the cellar and into the fan-discharge pipe 6,through a door 16, which must; be opened as soon :is the fan is not inopera-tion. A by-pass is thus provided for the air.` If the blower B isused, a special by-pass must. be provided sure or exhaustin to admit airto the engine when thefan becomes-inoperative. y l

In Fi .3,10 isa pumpffor withdrawing the con ensed water or melted snowfrom the' collecting pit 11.. On the pipe 2 is a valve 13 which is usedywhen the engine E is not in operation ,4 When this valve is opened asmall current of ir frdm the blower flows through the refrigeratingchamber out of the valve-opening, thus maintaining the refrigeratorappliances in normal Working condition, and, by the refrigerantabsorbing heat, preventing the frosting of' the refrig-l erant pipes.The blower B or B is auxiliary to the blowing-engineE. Itis valuablebecause it relieves the blowing-engine of a large amount of work due tothe back-presof air through the con-l'r duits and lines o refrigeratingcoil which obstruct its free passage 'and would cause Y. the engine todraw in less air than if the inlet-valves were freely exposed to theatmosphere. The pressure y developed by the blower need be very small,one ounce or less, and even if only 'sutlicient pressure isdevelf opctlthereby in the refrigerating chamber `to give the normal atmosphericpressure at the engine inlet-valves. the advantage of the auxiliaryblower would still be practically` attained.

The air that' is propelled by the blower B or B ypasses into thedistributing pipe 6, then upward and around the coils of pipe 8 whicharevery cold `due to the refrigerating fluid. and on these pipes themoisture is preferably condensed in the form of frost: it, then passesinto the receiver 9, then through conduit Q to the blowing-engine, fromwhich `itis fed under pressurer to the furnace or converter eitherdirectly or through a stove, and maintained under pressure from theAtime -it leaves the engine until it enters the furnace or converter.When the pipes 1n the refrigerating chamber become covered with frost,the frost is thawed olf by passing the hot ammonia gas through one ofthe coils or series of coils, and the water melted therefrom willcollect in the pit 11 and can be' withdrawn. AMeanwhile the other seriesof the coils can be used with refrigerant in tlul usual way. and by thusthawing the scriesvsuccessively. instead of thawing all of them at once.the operation of the apparatus is not interrupted and can be madecontinuous in a singlebhamber.

It will be observed that. on account of the air being' constantly inrapidfmotion `and under pressure, and the enormous volume required, themethods usually employed for extracting a portion of the moisture fromsmall volumes of air in applying it to drvingv grain. cooling rooms.de., arc not applicable to-blast-turnaces and coi'iverters. since in,many of these methods the air is allowed common use.

" to expand, ,which 1n itself is the most service- 6B able rerigeratingprocess and simplifies the operation to a greatextent, While in myprocess there is no substantial expansion of the air prior to` itsintroduction into the furnace.

Various arrangements of these appliances will be suggested tothoseskilled in the art, without'afecting my invention which consistsprincipally V.in the introduction of a blower auxlliaryto the ,maniblowing engine and Vmaintaining in a single chamber a continuousrefrigerating operation.

-My apparatus canbe applied to drying the air ioruse in open-hearthfurnaces. and for other purposes in the -arts wherein drv air is animportant factor.A .I

l Theladvantages of my invention will be appreciated by those skilledinthe art. By rendering the air dry or practically dry by refrigeration asdescribed above before it is 4 introduced into the furnace or converterand supplying such dry air in large quantities under constantcompression, the amount of `moisture is made practically uniform fromday to day and from. year to year. It is thus made easy for theblastvfurnace manager to secure uniformity in the character of metalproduced by the' furnace, notwithst'andinglvarying meteorologicalconditions, and, wit 'out Lthat close supervision which is 95 necessaryin furnace-practice heretofore in By the words blowing engine in myclaims I mean an air-pumping apparatus which at the same time measuresthe air sup- '100 plied to it'. e

l'. Apparatus for producing dry air, comprising a refrigeratmg chamberhaving an air inlet and an air outlet, a blower con- ,105 nected withthe air inlet and arranged to dis- 'charge air into the refrigeratingchamber, a

service pipe leading from the outlet, and a. blowing engine connectedt'o the Service pipe 4and arranged to drawfrom the refrigerat- 110 ingchamber the air discharged into it b v the blower: substantially asdescribed. i

Apparatus for extracting moisture from air which consists, in thecombination of a refrigerating chamber, a blowing engine con- A gine,said blowing engine and blower being arranged to cause the flow of airthrough the refrigerating chamber. and a luy-pass for 12D the blower:.substantially as described.

8. Apparatus fonextrac'timgl; moisture from air. comprising arefrigerating chamber'having an air inlet and an airl outlet, a servicepipe connectedto theoutlet.- a blowing engine connected with the servicepipe, said pipe having a' valved outlet between the engine .and chamber,and a blower arranged to feed air through the inlet into therefrigerating chamber; substantially as described.

4. Apparatus for producing dry air, com#- v prising a. refrigeratingchamber hav pipe between the refrigeralaing chamber and n:

the'. engine, and a by-pass lincluded in the service pipe for cuttngothe blower.

'In testnnony whereof, I have hereunto sut my-hand.

JAMES GAYLEY lVitnesses:

THOMAS lV. BAKEWELL, H. M. CORWIN.

